Justin Bieber Lands Atop Forbes’ Highest Earning Celebs Under 30, Beating Taylor Swift, 1D

So far, Justin Bieber has had an awful year. Ongoing legal woes, a seemingly now-final split from former girlfriend Selena Gomez and apparently discontented murmurings in his fan base are all in the picture.

But, from a financial perspective, Bieber is coming up $80 million rosy.

Forbes magazine has named Bieber the highest-earning entertainer in the world under the age of 30. The financial publication published its estimates based on entertainment-related income analyzed between June 2013 to June 2014 for its annual Celebrity 100 list.

So, how did the oft-shirtless Biebs rack up $80 in 12 months?

The bulk of that figure is from the final leg of the “Confident” singer’s Believe world tour, which was dogged by bad headlines, but still sold out everywhere until the last stretch in Australia. Like most artists, Bieber also sold albums and merchandise at his shows.

The Canadian also has a number of tech investments and currently four perfume lines.

Despite talk of Bieber’s fanbase falling away, the singer heads up 56.6 million followers on Twitter and can presumably still sell out an arena. His recent win of Best Male for the fifth consecutive year at MTV’s 2014 Europe Music Awards, indicates he has sizable support despite tabloid and wider media censure and a teen antics-filled rap sheet.

After an October announcement that he was getting back to music, Justin released “Home To Mama,” his first duet with Cody Simpson from their forthcoming duets album. So there is potential for Bieber to top up that $80 million in the months to come.

Forbes did make the point that, although Bieber is No.1 on the under 30’s highest-earning entertainer list, he is No. 33 on the Celebrity 100 list, which includes all ages.

Bieber gets music business company on the top 10 list from One Direction, Taylor Swift and Rihanna.

The One Direction boys came second, having earned an estimated $75 million between June 2013 and June 2014. Their last album Midnight Memories debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

However, the band’s coffers are set to swell further and may see them surpass Bieber, after their fourth studio album, Four, topped the iTunes album chart in around 67 countries and debuted atop the UK Albums Chart on November 23.

Swift leads the way for women under 30 and comes in at No. 3 with $64 million.

Her earnings from this point will see her pull ahead of Bieber in the next assessment of highest-earning entertainers under 30, after mammoth sales of her latest album, 1989, and a tour which she is about to undertake in support.

Bruno Mars, 29, just about manages to make the list and hold a respectable No. 4.

His album, Unorthodox Jukebox, went on to double platinum status and he will still feature on the Celebrity 100 list after he turns 30, according to Forbes.

Bad Girl Rihanna caps the top five with an estimated $48 million, earned from music sales, perfume lines and new income streams generated by her forays into fashion.

To recap: Justin Bieber has topped Forbes’ highest-earning celebrity under 30 list.

The highest-earning entertainers under 30:

1. Justin Bieber, 20, $80 million
2. One Direction, 21 (average age), $75 million
3. Taylor Swift, 24, $64 million
4. Bruno Mars, 29, $60 million
5. Rihanna, 26, $48 million
6. Miley Cyrus, 22, $36 million
7. Jennifer Lawrence, 24, $34 million
8. Lady Gaga, 28, $33 million
9. Avicii, 25, $28 million
10. Skrillex, 26, $18 million